Restoration of honor
by nursegirl07
Summary: Post AC. Reeve is trying to sort out what happened to Cloud and Zach 7 years ago. He's found some video documents in the depths of Hojo's files at what used to be Shinra. Will Cloud agree to share what happened during the 5 years of imprisonment?
1. Chapter 1

It was a typical night at 7th Heaven. Tifa was bartending, Marlene and Denzel were at one of the dinner tables pretending to do homework every time Tifa looked their way, and Barret, Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, and Red XIII were gathered around another table drinking and talking. Cloud was out making a delivery, but probably should have been back by now. Tifa glanced at the clock and sighed.

He did this almost every night. He probably wouldn't come sneaking in until everyone was gone, in some futile attempt to avoid everyone that cared about him.

Typical Cloud.

The bell jingled which indicated the door opened. It was a relatively slow night, and Tifa sighed in frustration at the fact she might have to turn the deep fryers back on in order to cook something. When she looked up, she saw someone that she was not expecting to see, someone that she had only "met" once before, whom she was not very familiar with, along with 2 other men she was unfortunately too familiar with. The chatter at the tables stopped as well as they looked up at them, curious.

"Reeve, Reno, Rude, what are you guys doing here?" Tifa inquired, looking concernedly at the disheveled looking men. Reeve no longer worked for Shinra (since it no longer existed), but he still refused to go out in anything but a business suit. His job now was to take care of all the legal cases that people were currently holding against the former Shinra, and to organize everyones files. His hair was slicked back and his beard perfectly trimmed, but there was an air about him that made Tifa and the others uncomfortable. Reno and Rude leaned against the wall perfectly at ease, but still looking like something awkward was about to happen.

"Is Cloud here?" Reeve asked quickly, nervously straightening his tie and looking around for the signature blonde spikes that were usually somewhere amongst this crowd. Denzel and Marlene looked up from what they were doing at the mention of Cloud's name.

"No, he's out making a delivery. Why, do you need him for something?" Tifa asked skeptically. Why was he acting so strangely?

"Well, yes. I…uh…" he stated awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, fighting in his head about what to say.

"Come have a drink, guys! Long time no see!" a slightly inebriated Barret hollered to break the awkwardness, pulling over 3 barstools to their table. Reno immediately took a seat and ordered his drink, while Rude reluctantly followed. Reeve, on the other hand, still stood in the doorway looking awkward.

Tifa walked over him as the others began to catch up with Reno and Rude; it had only been 2 weeks since Sephiroth had fallen but it seemed like so much had happened in that time frame.

"What is it?" she asked him silently, the only other person listening was Vincent, not interested in what the Turks had to say.

"I have a case I need to take care of, and I need some information from Cloud. I was looking through his file today. I found some… information that I wanted to disclose with him. I'm really not sure how he's going to feel about it." He stated uncomfortably.

"Well, what does it have to do with?" Tifa asked, now morbidly curious. What kind of case would involve Cloud?

"Well… that's what I'm afraid he might not be very happy talking about it. Its about… Lieutenant Zachary Fair, SOLDIER first class." All the color left Tifa's face at the mention of Zach's name, tears filling her eyes. 'No, Cloud would not like that one bit.' She thought to herself. Vincent saw it was time to intervene.

"What kind of case would possibly have to do with Zach?" Vincent asked quietly and coldly, suddenly at Tifa's side. Reeve jumped in surprise at how quickly he had moved.

"His parents are demanding to know everything that happened. They want to know what happened at Nibelheim, what happened during the 5 years they disappeared, and what happened during their escape. And I think its their right to know, don't you?" He inquired, gaining courage.

"Cloud won't tell you a thing. I guarantee it." Tifa said flatly. "You won't get anything out of him, except for possibly a black eye for even mentioning Zach's name. I've been trying to get him to talk about it for the last 2 years and I still don't know anything about what happened during those 5 years."

"Well, that's the thing," Reeve continued. "I wanted to talk to Cloud about it because… I found video documentation of select events during those 5 years. Professor Thomas Hojo, the scientist caring for Zach and Cloud," Vincent huffed at the word 'caring', "was required to keep a log of the tests he performed. I have not viewed them, and won't until I have Cloud's discretion."

"He won't let you, Reeve. It's a touchy subject, I wouldn't go there." Tifa said, her voice rising."I would just destroy the tapes and move on." Secretly, Tifa was terrified of what the tapes would hold, and how they would affect Cloud. The conversation had caught the attention of everyone at the bar, including the children, who was staring at Reeve curiously.

"Its information we need to see. Its important, and if Cloud cares about Zach's true story being told then he will cooperate," Reeve stated stubbornly.

"Tifa, what is this guy talking about? What does he mean a scientist took care of Cloud for 5 years? And who's Zack?" Denzel asked, desperate to know as much about his idol as physically possible.

"Ok, time for the kids to go to bed," Barret said, pushing out his chair and walking over to the kids' table, scooping up Marlene and putting a hand on Denzels shoulder.

"No, I want to see the videos! What happened to Cloud? Why doesn't he want anyone to see it?" Marlene was pouting. Tifa gave Reeve a death glare. Now the kids would never sleep.

"Barret, please take them upstairs." She sighed, pressing her forefinger and thumb to the corners of her eyes. She was getting a headache. Barret lead the still complaining kids up the stairs.

"Look, I know Cloud is very sensitive about the subject, and that's why I was going to bring it up slowly. I don't want to hurt him, but I cannot just let this information slip past us when it can help figure out what really happened." Reeve argued.

Tifa looked at him, frustrated, but she had to admit he was right. While she was terrified to find out what happened during those five years, she was also extremely curious and had always wondered about it herself. It couldn't have been that bad, could it? I mean, Cloud was still alive, wasn't he?

"Ok, but you're bringing it up." She finally sighed. 'It'll be your funeral' she mumbled to herself as she walked away, back to the bar.

Barret came back down the stairs, not convinced that the kids would go to sleep, but at least they were in bed. He took his place back on the barstool at the table and leaned in closely. Everyone was looking at him expectedly.

"I guess Reeve found videos of what happened during the 5 years Hojo had Cloud and his friend Zack," Barret whispered to everyone else. Vincent was staring at the wall, knowing only too well what was probably contained in those videos, knowing Cloud would never want anyone else to see what had happened to him and Zach during those 5 years.

If Cloud had wanted people to know what happened, he would talk about it. But it was, in fact, one of the many secrets Cloud kept locked away for nobody to ever know. Cloud did not talk about his past, let alone talk much at all. He was a very closed person who did not share his feelings or anything else for that matter. He didn't want anyone else to share his problems, and Vincent understood that all too well.

Cid blew out the smoke from his cigarette, "Come on, it can't be that bad. I'm sure the Shinra had some kind of regulations on what scientists could do."

At this Vincet stood, knocking the barstool over that he had been sitting on. He was glaring down at Cid intensely, daring him to say more on the subject.

"Hojo is pure evil. I'm sure whatever those video's contain are things you couldn't even imagine in your deepest, darkest nightmares. He did create Sephiroth, if you don't remember clearly." He growled coldly and walked away.

"Sheesh, all I'm tryin to say is that Cloud thinks he's had it so tough. Well, he aint the only one!" Cid yelled after him, pounding his fist on the table and taking another swig of beer.

The kids had already snuck down the stairs and were listening through the door. Everyone was silent for a few minutes, pondering what would happen when Cloud returned. As if on cue, the roar of Fenrir broke the silence as Cloud pulled up outside and cut the engine. The sound of his boots against the rocks indicated that he was going to try to sneak in, since there was no sound coming from the bar.

Cloud walked through the door, looking extremely tired, and literally jumped when he saw everyone sitting there in silence.

He looked around for a moment at everyone staring at him. "Uh… hey." He said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, looking guiltily at Tifa for being late.

"Cloud." Reeve said as a greeting, walking straight to Cloud and getting a little too close for comfort for him, which was probably a normal distance for anyone else.

"Hey, Reeve. Uh, what are you doing here?" Cloud asked curiously, wondering why everyone was listening in on their conversation. What was going on?

"I have something I want to ask you Cloud. Do you want to sit down?"

Cloud shrugged and pulled up a stool, knowing it could be nothing good if he had come here in person to 'ask him something'. Reeve sat across from him and looked intensely into his glowing eyes. Cloud stared back skeptically, feeling the tension in the room grow about what Reeve was about to ask him, and put his guard up.

"As you probably know, Shinra did some pretty terrible things when they were up and running," Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed, frustrated. Yeah, he knew. Better than anyone. "It is my job now to try to settle some of the legal cases involved with the injustice that was served during President Shinra's time in office." Reeve continued.

"There is one case in particular that I think will interest you… or at least, you could help me with." He seemed like he was having trouble choosing his words. Cloud didn't like where this was going. He narrowed his eyes at Reeve. He suddenly realized he wanted information from him. Some part of the vast amount of secret information locked within his mind, information in which he probably wasn't willing to share with anyone. Not even Tifa. Cloud looked at him, raising an eyebrow, as if saying, 'Okay, go on.'

Reeve sighed before continuing. "The particular case I'm working on now was filed 2 years ago, but I am just now getting to it. It involves the parents of Lieutenant Zachary Fair, SOLDI…"

"Forget it." Cloud said loudly and upbruptly, standing up knocking over his stool and making his way out of the room. Marlene and Denzel scrambled away from their spot behind the door and hit in the coat closet as they heard Cloud's footsteps coming closer.

But Tifa grabbed him by the arm and looked him sternly in the eyes. He tried to pull away but she tightened her grip.

"You want his parents to know everything he did, don't you?" she pleaded Reeve's case for him. "He was so brave, he should be given the honor he deserves" she said quietly, keeping an intense stare with Cloud. He considered this for a moment, but tugged his arm away and made his way for the door again.

"Come on, man. Think about it. We're all your friends here, we won't go tellin' no one." Reno argued, putting his boots up on the table with his arms folded behind his head.

"Yeah, Cloud. Besides, we're all dyin' to know what happened during those 5 years." Barret said, his judgement slightly altered by the amount of alcohol in his body, letting the insensitive words slip out.

Cloud spun on his feet and faced everyone. He pointed a finger at Barret. "Its nobody's business what happened. Its done, its over." He addressed Reeve, his face a mask of hatred. It scared everyone in the room, because it was very un-like Cloud to act this way. "Trust me, man, his parents DO NOT want to know what happened, okay? Give them the nice little cover story Shinra made up about the whole situation. The Nibelheim reactor had some kind of gas leak and exploded, and after the mission failed, Me and Zach "volunteered" to test out some new "very safe" experiments a highly qualified, sane scientist was conducting with Mako, and we were doing our duty as SOLDIERS, aiding in the further expansion of the many wonderous uses of Mako and dedicating our lives to making Shinra become all that it can be!" he practically exploded, something Cloud never did. "Or whatever bullshit ya'll came up with." He added, kicking the stool he had knocked over, shoving his hands in his pockets and pacing back and forth, fuming.

Marlene and Denzel looked at each other in surprise outside of the door. They had absolutely no idea what Cloud was talking about. Experiments? Scientist? Mako?

Marlene let a tear leak from her eye, scared at how Cloud was acting. Denzel was in complete shock. Those were the most words he had ever heard Cloud say. He had never even heard Cloud say more than 5 words in a sentence, and certainly had never seen him so angry, or show so much emotion. It surprised him. He continued to peek through the door, needing to understand what Cloud was so upset about.

Reeve looked ashamed, looking up at Cloud with sad eyes.

"Well, actually, you were pretty spot on there. Except when you guys escaped, they said you both went awol, abruptly quit SOLDIER, and abandoned Shinra and threatened to share the secrets of Mako with the world. The search was sent out for you two, everyone under the impression that you were armed and highly dangerous."

Cloud stopped pacing, and looked down at Reeve. There could have been fire in his eyes. He let his hands rest on the table in front of him, lowering his face to the level of Reeves.

"Armed and highly dangerous?" he asked quietly. Everyone knew that Reeve probably should not have said that, but he was standing his ground. Perhaps his was his method of getting Cloud to talk, Tifa thought. She was just glad it wasn't her in that seat.

"We had just escaped from being prisoners for 5 years, where did you think we were going to get a weapon to arm ourselves?" Cloud inquired calmly. Reeve simply looked at him, stubborn. "You could have stolen them from the guards."

"I WAS IN A FUCKING COMA!" Cloud exploded, slamming his fists on the table. Everyone jumped in surprise; everyone surprised at the information that Cloud had been in a coma, except Reno and Rude, who in fact were involved in the search and knew the true facts about that part of Cloud's story. In the hallway, Marlene covered her ears after hearing Cloud use a 'dirty word'. Denzel continued to watch in awe, soaking in everything. Why had his idol been in a coma?

Cloud walked away, running his hands through his hair, mumbling to himself. 'No, I'm not going to tell him anymore. None of his fuckin business. Zach didn't want anyone to know. Nobody needs to know anything.'

"Cloud," Reeve stood up and walked over to him. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to tell you what our, quote "cover story" was." He said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Is that really what you want me to tell Zach's parents?" he asked quietly. Cloud looked at him fiercely, shook his head slowly and took a deep breath. "No."

He walked over to the bar and quietly told Tifa to give him something strong, regaining his composure, seemingly embarrassed for loosing his temper so quickly.

He sat down on a stool and quickly downed whatever Tifa had given him. He squinted his eyes and coughed when he was done swallowing. Everyone assumed it must have been strong. "Another." He said, and Tifa complied.

Reeve walked over to him and sat next to him and ordered the same thing. He looked towards Cloud.

"Are you ready for this, Cloud? Are you ready to face your past?" Reeve asked seriously. After traveling with them for such a long time in the past, he knew that Cloud had a very difficult time letting go of things, and he would bet his life savings that Cloud still thought about what happened in the laboratory every day of his life. He was very obviously still in love with Aerith, no matter how much Tifa tried to let him in.

"What do you need to know, Reeve." Cloud asked solemnly, staring down at the drink in his hands. He was swirling the liquid around in the glass nervously, avoiding eye contact with everyone. You could have heard a pin drop. Vincent could swear he even heard Cloud's racing heart from across the room. He had everyones undivided attention, including the two children in the hallway that shouldn't have been there.

"Well, I need more your agreement to something." Cloud looked up quickly into Reeve's eyes. He wasn't going to make him tell his story? There was nothing Cloud hated more than talking in front of people. He inwardly gave a sigh of relief, but judged too quickly on that relief.

"I have some video documentation of what happened in the laboratory. Hojo, and some of his guards and assistants, were required to keep a tiny video camera clipped to their jackets, in order to monitor what was going on," Reeve continued. Cloud's face had gone bone white. He did not see this one coming. They actually had FOOTAGE of what happened there? Why hadn't anyone done something by now, then?

"This particular footage has never been viewed by anyone that works for Shinra, because it was Hojo's highly classified files," he stated, coldly. "Things he did not want the president to see."

Cloud could hardly believe Hojo had any files at all that were good enough for the president to see, and couldn't imagine what was captured on the CD in Reeve's hand. He looked up at him and swallowed hard, choking back memories that came slamming back into the wall he kept them behind in his mind, shattering it. Right there was the source of his insanity and pain, in a tiny, silver CD, for the world to see.

Reeve looked at him hard. "May we watch the video's, Cloud, and find out what truly happened inside the Shinra Mansion 7 years ago?" he asked, keeping steady contact with Cloud's eyes, which seemed to have started to glow brighter for some reason. Everyone waited with bated breath.

Cloud sighed, the last thing on earth he wanted to do was see these videos. But he thought of Zach. He looked around at everyone who was watching him with anticipation. He looked up at Reeve and nodded solemnly. Reeve nodded, and proceeded over to the TV that hung above the bar.

Cloud looked down at his drink again, and quickly brought it to his mouth and swallowed.

"I'm gonna need another one of these, Tifa." He said.


	2. Chapter 2

_Warning: Story rated T for language and violence. I do not think what happened to Cloud and Zack during the 5 years in Shinra Mansion was a picnic by any means, so I am writing what I think probably happened. If you do not like violence, I suggest not reading this chapter. I love Cloud as much as anyone, but I think Zack's story deserves to be told as well, and Cloud needs a kick in the ass when it comes to letting go of his past. I mean, Cloud got a second chance because of what Zack did. Lets get their true story out there. _

Everyone in the room turned their chairs towards the TV, as if getting settled in to see a drive-in movie. Cloud was inwardly annoyed by this, but didn't say anything, letting the effects of the alcohol relax and calm him. It was going to take a lot for him to keep his cool. But he wanted everyone to see what Zack had done for him.

When Reeve entered the CD, the screen started out fuzzy, but was quickly replaced by a sloppily held camera that was having a hard time focusing. It was eventually steadied, assumedly clipped to the jacket of whoever was holding it, and the person proceeded up a flight of stairs.

Tifa immediately recognized where this person was. The Nibelheim reactor. The beginning of Clouds horrifying story. Although she was there, she did not know what happened to Cloud after she had been shipped to the hospital in Midgar. She read in the paper that he was killed in the fire, but she obviously knew that wasn't true. She sat back and watched the video.

Although the camera shook with every step the person took, it was very easy to clearly see what was going on. The person walked into the reactor, and stopped to look around. The place was trashed, there was a dark haired main sprawled out on one of the pods near the stairs, and there was a large amount of blood trickling down the stairs.

"Has anyone seen Sephiroth?" the voice of whoever the camera was clipped to rumbled too loudly, the speaker picking up the words coming from his chest where the camera was pinned to and his voice echoing in the large room.

"No, sir. It has been assumed he fell into the lifestream. There is a young man up there with a wound similar to those that have been inflicted by Sephiroths musame before. He was impailed through the abdomen both sagitally and coronally. He appears to be dead, sir." The assistant in a lab coat stated, walking over to whoever the camera was on and reading the information off of a clip board.

"Wait, so Sephiroth is dead?" the voice asked, sounding horrified. He pushed the assistant aside and ran up the stairs, past Zack and when he approached the top of the stairs, he looked down at Cloud's still form. He gave a grunt of disgust at the amount of blood he had leaked everywhere, and looked down over the ledge for any sign of Sephiroth. He let out a growl of frustration. He walked back over to the stairs, slipping on a bit of Cloud's blood on the way out almost losing his balance, and giving him a hard kick in the gut on the way back down.

At the bar, Cloud was gripping his glass firmly, his eyes locked on the screen, showing no emotion. Reeve was watching impassively, as were Cid, Reno and Rude. Vincent had a cold, hard stare to his face like always, but Tifa and Yuffie both had their hands to their mouths, trying to hold back tears already. In the hallway, Marlene was sobbing on Denzels shoulder, while he watched in amazement. What had happened to Cloud? Why did he look dead? What on earth was going on!?

Back on the screen, the person with the camera walked back down the stairs and over to the assistant who was taking more notes on his clipboard.

"Gather up those two. If I lost one of my experiments, the President is going to have to pay me back with two more." He said coldly, walking back out into the cold, ripping the camera off his shirt. The screen went black.

The next scene was introduced by a new surrounding. It was a brightly lit laboratory, but the majority of the screen was filled with the face of none other than Professor Hojo. He steadied the camera and began speaking. Everyone recognized it as the same voice from the previous video. Vincent tensed.

"Today begins day 1 of experimentation. Two test subjects have been approved for experimentation, code names Specimen C and Specimen Z. Specimen C is the weaker subject, and was severely injured at the reactor, so experiments will focus on the healing powers of Mako. Specimen Z will be my primary focus, for he is much stronger and experienced. Experiments on subject Z will focus on Mako enhancements." He said in a dull voice, as if previously rehearsing this speech, making it sound reasonable for the Presidents ears.

He clipped the camera to his jacket and proceeded over to the center of the room where two metal tables were set up. On one table laid none other than Cloud, who looked unconscious and was strapped down by his wrists and ankles. He was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and had a breathing tube down his throat. There was a steady beep, beep, beep coming from his heart monitor, and there was a large bag of green liquid flowing into the IV on his inner elbow, labeled Mako, 75%. Hojo strode over to him and looked down at him, giving the same sound of disgust he had back at the reactor. _'What a pitiful excuse for a specimen'_ he thought. '_This kid really killed my greatest creation?_'

He sighed and gave Cloud a brief assessment, listening to his heart and lungs with a stethoscope and checking the sites where he had been stabbed, which were still raw and bloody. He took out his pen light and lifted up one of Cloud's eyelids. Almost everyone at the bar gasped at how Cloud's eyes looked. His pupils were dilated, but the surrounding iris was glowing so brightly they would have lit up a dark room. It had to be because of the mako flowing into his vein. Hojo shined the light in his eye, but it remained still. He let go of Cloud's eyelid and scribbled down on his notepad, _Specimen C showing no signs of improvement_.

"Pfft, imagine that" he mumbled to himself, making his way over to Zacks table. Zack was not hooked up to everything Cloud was, he was simply strapped in and also had Mako running into his arm, but his bag said 'Mako, 45%.' He struggled against the metal cuffs around his ankles and feet, and was looking at Hojo with as much hatred in his eyes that he could possibly imagine.

"You son of a bitch! Where the hell am I? Why am I strapped down? What the fuck did you do to Cloud?!" he was shouting, still fighting against the restraints, drawing blood.

"Now, now, Specimen Z, please calm down, or I will have to force you to calm down." Hojo said smoothly and sickeningly, and the others could hear a smile in his voice at the idea of forcing Zack to be calm.

"I'LL KILL YOU! Don't fucking touch me you bastard!" Zack continued screaming and thrashing, while Hojo walked over to the medicine cabinet and got out a vial and drew up some medicine in a needle. He inserted it into the line running into Zacks arm. Zacks eyes slid shut and he stopped moving in a matter of about 30 seconds.

"Ha, ha, Specimen Z. I'm afraid you haven't seen anything yet." Hojo picked up the camera and turned it off, leaving the screen in darkness.

Everyone at the bar was looking at Cloud. They knew nothing on the video that was coming next could be good, the way Cloud had looked there on the table. Cloud was staring at his drink again, focusing so intently on it one would think he was trying to shatter the glass with his mind. He was desperately trying to keep his focus. _They're your friends. You can talk about this when its all over. You will finally be able let this all go_, he kept telling himself in his head.

Tifa had silent tears falling down her face. She did not realize that Cloud had been considered a specimen for 5 years. She always wondered why he had never come to see her. The idea of Cloud being held there against her will made her so angry.

Barret broke the silence by pounding his mug of beer on the table loudly. "That son of a bitch Hojo got what he deserved! Wish I coulda met that Zack fella, though. I think we would have gotten along." He added solemnly.

Cloud squeezed his eyes shut at the idea of everyone meeting Zack. He had wished so many times that Zack would have survived, and not him. Zack had made the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, and Cloud sometimes wished he hadn't. If Zack had been here instead, Aerith would still be alive….

_NO_. Cloud stopped those thoughts in their tracks. He doesn't know what would have happened, and he had stopped dweling on it. He had responsibilities now. He was an adult, not some teenager wallowing in self-pity. The whole point of this was to get all of this out in the open, so everyone knew what really happened. He was pretty sure he could handle it… but he wondered, could the people he loved watch him be tortured?

In the hall, the kids were still staring at the screen in shock. Cloud, who was so strong and brave, was really the way he was because of being some sort of a lab rat for Shinra? But he looked so young in these videos. Denzel figured out that he had been 16. So much older than him, but still so young.

The screen lit up again, this time showing another different scene. This time the camera was strapped to someone walking down a long hallway. At the end was a large door, kept locked with an electronic key pad where a code had to be typed in, and other various locks. Whatever was in this room, they didn't want getting out.

To no ones surprise, when the door opened, Zack and Cloud were the things inside that they did not want escaping. But everyone was surprised at the condition in which they were being kept. The room was no bigger than the bar's bathroom, which was enough room to fit the toilet, a shower, and a towel rack. This room had nothing but a toilet and a concrete floor, with shackles and chains coming from the walls, attached to each of their ankles. There were no beds or anything that resembled something they could sleep on. They were being kept like animals. No, animals were even treated better than this.

Zack had been napping in the corner, but was now glaring at whoever possessed the camera. Cloud, on the other hand, was resting his head on his arms, facing down into the toilet bowl, looking like he was asleep. The person with the camera, who was assumed to be a guard of some kind, pulled Cloud up by his hair and threw him onto the ground. Cloud did not stir. He looked down into the bowl and saw it was filled with a mixture of mako and blood that Cloud must have thrown up. _Gross_, he thought, flushing it away. The blonde had still not moved from his place on the floor, and the guard didn't want to touch him, so he rolled him over with his boot.

"Don't touch him!" Zack screamed, attempting to come at the guard, but being held back by the chains around his feet. He fell to his hands and knees and glared up through his long, black bangs at the guard. "He's sick. Leave him alone."

"Yeah, I don't really care that he's sick. I've got your breakfast for you, so just sit still." The guard snapped. They no longer ate real food, but were given nutritional supplements 3 times a day. This prevented them from getting sick from the mako.

Cloud was now laying on his back. The guard could see dribbles of blood still coming from the corner of his mouth. He winced at the sight.

He lifted up Clouds arm and inserted a pre-filled syringe of nutritional supplements into the permanent port inserted into his antecubital vein. Cloud still did not stir. The guard bent down and placed two fingers into the crook of the blondes neck right under his jaw and felt for a pulse. Well, he was alive, and that's all he cared about. He would get his paycheck today.

He then turned to Zack, who was looking stubborn. "I've gotta give you this" the guard said, holding up the syringe.

"I don't want it." Zack said sternly, crossing his arms in a deliberate attempt to cover up the port on his arm. "Not until you bastards get someone in here to help Cloud. He's dying."

The guard let out an exasperated sigh. "Hojo isn't going to let him die. He's got too much money into this project. Now, give me your arm." He said calmly. He was beginning to loose his patience with this kid.

Zack glared at him once more and turned his head to look at Cloud, who was miraculously still breathing. He held out his arm for the guard, who screwed on the syringe and pushed in the supplement.

"Good boy." The guard said sarcastically, stepping back and walking towards the door. He turned around once more to check on them, and the camera caught a glimpse of Zack cradling Clouds limp body against his chest, pressing his face to his blonde spikes. Zack was whispering something to him. The blood that was coming from the corners of Clouds mouth were now staining Zacks plain gray T-shirt, but he didn't seem to notice. He was protecting Cloud against whatever came next. The camera went black again.

Back at the bar, Cloud was inwardly smiling, remembering how Zack had always protected him. For some reason, Zack had felt compelled to protect Cloud as if he were his little brother. He had barely known him before the mission in Nibelheim. But in the lab, since Zack and Cloud were all each other had, they looked out for each other. Zack's protective nature is what got him killed. In the lab, he had always taken care of Cloud back in the cell. Cloud knew he always had a shoulder to rest on when Zack was around. The though comforted him now, but also saddened him. He missed him _so much._

The next scene was back in the laboratory, and Cloud was strapped down on the table again, this time without a breathing tube or the heart monitors, and not even mako, but his arms were outstretched at his side and his legs were spread far apart. Cloud knew it could be nothing good but he did not bother struggling like Zack always did. The camera this time was clipped to the lab jacket of one of Hojos assistants who would be helping with the procedure. He went off to another room and there encountered Hojo.

"It will be your job to administer mako through deep injection with these needles." Hojo stated, handing the possessor of the camera a handful of long, thick needles pre-filled with bright green mako.

"Where will I be administering, sir?" the assistant asked.

"Oh, you'll see." Hojo laughed, stalking back into the darkness. The assistant walked back out to the blonde specimen, who was laying on the table, looking terrified. He had terrible dark circles under his eyes, and Hojo had ordered his T-shirt be taken off. Everyone at the bar could see every one of the boys ribs sticking out through his pale skin. He was breathing deep and fast.

Hojo had told the assistant earlier that the procedure would be quite painful, and to prevent the specimen from screaming, the assistant proceeded to shove a wad of cloth into the blondes mouth and tie a tight cloth that covered his mouth around the back of his neck, so he was biting down on it. Clouds eyes widened at this, and beads of sweat began to form noticeably at his temple. He started to breath faster.

Hojo then came into the room, carrying something that caused everyone (except Cloud, of course) to gasp. What was he going to do with a sledge hammer?

At the bar, Cloud closed his eyes and turned his head, not wanting to see what was coming. Of course he knew what Hojo was going to do, he was there. He still found it hard to believe that it was him he was seeing on that cold metal table. He could almost feel it against the skin of his back. He flexed the muscles of his arms, thankful that they still worked. Everyone else was staring at the screen in fixuated, terrified wonder, not noticing that Cloud had turned his head away from the screen. In the hall, Marlene had run up the stairs at the sight of the instrument, but Denzel, no matter how much he wanted to and how afraid he was, could not take his eyes off the screen.

The assistants camera picked up Hojo talking into his own camera from a different angle; "Todays experiment will be another to demonstrate how mako heals in the body. Does it work only on certain tissues, or does it work on the osteocytes as well?" he pondered into the tiny lense, turning it off and laughing menacingly.

The assistant followed Hojo over to the table, zooming the camera out so it would get a view of everything. Cloud had seen the hammer, put two and two together, and was not cooperating as much anymore. He was fighting against the restraints, his eyes wide with terror.

"I would not do that if I were you, specimen C. Struggling will only make it hurt worse." He said, as if in pleasure. He directed the assistant with the camera.

"After I have broken the bone, you will immediately insert the needle as deep as you can and inject the mako. Got it?" he said, as if talking to a child. The person must have nodded, because Hojo looked satisfied and picked up the hammer again.

"Initiate experiment number 3: the healing power of mako" he said, picking up the hammer, swinging it over his head and letting it come crashing down sickeningly on Clouds left upper arm. Cloud let out a muffled scream through the cloth gagging him, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets before he squeezed them shut tight, trying to control himself.

Everyone at the bar gasped at the first swing Hojo had taken. It looked like it gave him so much pleasure to hurt Cloud. That's when Tifa noticed Cloud was not watching, but had his eyes shut similarly to how they looked in the video. She went to sit by him, wiping her tears away first. He seemed not to notice her.

Vincent had been unaware he had let his jaw fall open. Hojo had subjected him to experimentation as well, but nothing this brutal. He was hurting Cloud for the fun of it. He watched the screen in shock.

Barret had instantly sobered up. He thought he had had it tough… man, he had never understood what that spikey-headed kid had really gone through… for five years, even?

Reno and Rude were also watching in awe, guilt splattered upon their faces. They had known Cloud had been subjected to experimentation… but not this.

Cid looked pissed. He had met that Hojo freak once before, and cant believe he had let him live.

Denzel had finally let the tears fall. Cloud was the person he admired most in the world, who he wanted to be like. He couldn't believe that Cloud had never let any of them know that this had happened to him. Why hadn't he shared it? Why would someone do this to him, anyway? Had he done something wrong?

After Clouds humerus had been smashed, the assistant immediately shoved the needle into the center of his upper arm and quickly injected the mako.

Hojo didn't hesitate to move onto Clouds lower arm, in which one of the bones came through the skin. Hojo hastily adjusted it by shoving it back in, all to Clouds terrible agony, and the assitant gave the second shot. Hojo then repeated the same process with the other arm, issuing a muffled scream from Cloud with each terrible 'crunch' the swing of the hammer produced.

Cloud had been holding his breath, but let it out when the fourth needle was withdrawn from his right forearm. He though it was over.

But he was wrong.

Hojo had the assistant move the table containing the needles down to the foot of the table, where Clouds legs were strapped down. Cloud looked at them in horror when he realized what they were doing. _'They're gonna do my legs too.'_

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. He didn't' want to watch this. He had broken one of his legs when he was a kid and vaguely remembered how painful it had been. This was going to be a hundred times worse.

With a sickening CRACK, Clouds left femur was broken in half. It was the single most excruciatingly painful thing he had ever experienced. He let out a cry of agony, and could not stop the tears of pain from coming from his eyes. The camera of the assistant looked in the direction of Clouds face, and trails of bright green could be seen streaming down either side of his face.

Some of the others at the bar had to look away at this point, Reeve being one of them. Guilt swelled through him at requesting Cloud and everyone to watch this. He tried to convince himself that it would be helpful in the long run, but was having more trouble finding things to justify this claim. Its not like he was going to show Zacks parents this video. Cloud was right, the cover story probably was better.

Yuffie had already left the room, not able to watch or listen. Tifa was freely letting the tears flow, and Cloud still wasn't watching. He could bear the sound of his own stifled scream and the sound of his bones cracking, but he couldn't watch the satisfied look on Hojos face each time it happened.

"_Damn_" Cid muttered under his breath, his cigarette falling from the corner of his mouth. He was not expecting this at all.

Once both of Clouds arms and legs were shattered, and Hojo had successfully broken all 12 of Clouds longest bones and injected mako into them, his experiment was complete. He wiped Clouds blood from his hands on the jacket of the assistant with the camera with a smug grin, and walked away.

"Get him back to the cell. Try to make him walk. Ha, ha." Hojo laughed menacingly on his way out the door. The assistant summoned the guards responsible for keeping an eye on Cloud and Zack, and told them Cloud needed taken back to the room. The guards unstrapped him unceremoniously and tried to force him to stand. He still had the cloth in his mouth, and cried out when the guards placed him on his feet and he fell, trying to catch himself with his broken arms. The guards laughed hysterically, thinking it was highly amusing, until they got sick of waiting for him to try to get up. One of them grabbed him by his hair and dragged him out of the room. The assistant turned back to the bloody table once more before turning off the camera, leaving the screen at the bar blank once more.

Reeve picked up the remote to the TV and hit the stop button. At this point in time, he couldn't watch anymore of this right now. Everyone seemed to feel the same way, as he heard several sighs of relief. He turned towards Cloud, who was still gripping his drink as if he was trying to crush it, staring at it intensely.

He tried to read the emotion on Clouds face, but it was a hard mask. Cloud was good at hiding his emotions.

The bar was completely silent. Vincent led Yuffie back in, who was still sobbing over-dramatically, and they sat down at the table. All eyes were on Cloud.

Reve hesitated, trying to find words. "Cloud, I…" but they were nowhere to be found.

Cloud suddenly stood up, startling everybody. "Is there more?" he inquired.

Reeve swallowed. "Yes, there is, but…"

"Lets do this some other time, okay? I had a long day at work. I'm tired." He said flatly. He downed the rest of his drink and gave everyone one last glance. He let out a sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry I never said anything about all of this. But what was the point? Did you guys really want to hear that story? About how my arms and legs were broken for the fun of it? And trust me, that wasn't the worst he did to me. But it doesn't contribute to who I am anymore. Its in the past and I've let it go." He said simply.

"But I would like you all to know," he continued, "How Zack got me out of there. He deserves to have his story told. His last moment of honor…" Cloud trailed off, his gaze falling to the floor. It was hard for him to talk about now. That was the reason he was doing all of this. He normally wasn't the guy to talk about his past at all. "Plus… like I said, I was in a coma. I don't remember it all…"

Reeve had stood up. "I will go through the rest of the documentation and find anything regarding your escape, Cloud."

Cloud nodded, his face still a hard mask. "Thank you." He turned around and made his way towards the stairs.

Denzel scrambled into the closet again, wiping the tears from his eyes. He listened to the sound of Clouds boots climb the stairs, and eventually turn off to the left into his bedroom. When he heard the door close, he came out and returned quietly to his own bedroom, where Marlene was waiting for him.

Denzel didn't say a word to her as he climbed into bed and let the silent tears fall for his hero.


	3. Chapter 3

After Cloud had left the room, everybody sat in silence for what seemed like eternity, but was actually only about three minutes. Barret was the one to break the silence.

"I… I had no idea. Really. That was the last thing I ever would have guessed. I mean, I knew he had issues, but…. Damn." He mumbled quietly, but everyone heard him clearly.

"Well, when I found him the week before he joined AVALANCHE, he was in rough shape, but he never said why. He never mentioned a thing." Tifa added, wiping more tears away.

"The thing I'm wondering", Reeve spoke up unexpectedly, "Is why."

Everyone contemplated these words for a while. Suddenly, Yuffie spoke up for the first time that evening.

"Vincent, weren't you in Hojo's lab too? Did he ever do anything like that to you?" she inquired, insensitively. Everyone knew Vincent never spoke about his time in the lab, either.

"You all know what kind of things Hojo did to me. But he did them out of revenge. In comparison, he never did anything like we just saw." he stated quietly, indicating that he was not going to say any more on the subject.

Everyone let his words sink in.

"Ahem," Red XIII spoke up, for the first time that evening as well. "If you do not recall, I was a specimen of Hojo's as well."

"Oh!" Tifa exclaimed, having forgotten that Red XIII was indeed one of Hojos victims, and that they had rescued him from his clutches two years ago. "Sorry, Red. What about you? Did he ever do anything like that?"

"No,he did not. But I do have some theories about why he chose to use Mr. Fair and Cloud as his specimens, and the way he treated Cloud, if you would like to hear them." He continued.

"Of course", "Yeah, Red, lets hear it", "What is it?", everyone turned in the direction of Red XIII, waiting to hear his thoughts. They all knew he was wise and had a keen instinct.

"Well, as we saw in the first recording, it was obvious that Hojo was devastated at the loss of his greatest work, Sephiroth. It had been made apparent to me, and possibly the rest of you, that he liked meddling with the DNA of rare, powerful specimens, such is the example of Aerith and I, and JENOVA as well." he stated monotonously. Everyone was listening intently.

"When he discovered that Cloud was the one who had destroyed Sephiroth, we can assume he not only wanted Cloud to experiment on, rather he simply wanted him for the purpose of revenge, which he is highly capable of, using Vincents case as an example," he continued, nodding in Vincents direction.

"But we must ask ourselves, how would he get his revenge on Cloud while sill keeping good terms with the President? Well, we see that he came up with the idea that he could test out the healing powers of Mako on Cloud, considering he was seriously injured at the time, justifying this claim.

"But we must also ask ourselves: how can he continue to test the healing powers of mako on Cloud once he was healed? The answer is simply this: he had the intention of harming Cloud continuously from the beginning, because in order to heal, Cloud must first be injured. He could not continue to treat him for an injury that had already been cured. The president did not question this further because he simply did not care about Cloud. Both of their main focuses, I think, was Lieutenant Fair." Red XIII went on, everyone's eyes alight with curiousity.

"I think that Hojo's goal all along with Zachary was to recreate his greatest success---that is, Sephiroth. Zack had great potential, being very strong and in First Class, and was also very strong minded. His goal was to inject Zack with the JENOVA cells and have him forget everything that happened, and turn him into a super-SOLDIER, like Sephiroth once was.

"But his plan backfired. I think that after Zack had been given the JENOVA cells, they had no affect on him. As I said, he was very strong-minded and would not succumb to her will. From what we saw, I'm sure this was evidenced by how much he cared about Cloud." This caught everyones attention.

"Unlike Sephiroth, Zack had a good heart, and a pure soul. I think that Cloud's presence kept him level-headed and sane. In this we can see, Hojo's experiment backfired on him once more before his very eyes. When he realized he was not going to get his Sephiroth clone, he gave up on Zack. I think that is why he injected Cloud with the JENOVA cells as well." He continued. "It is obvious he never expected Cloud to become as strong or powerful as Zack would have, as we saw he referred to him as his 'failed experiment', but Cloud was in a weakened state, and he assumed that the power of JENOVA would have a stronger influence on him. He was correct, in a sense, but the cells obviously did not have the affect he was expecting. Instead of making Cloud stronger and more like Sephiroth, I'm assuming they sent him into a coma because of his already weakened state." He said.

"At this point, Hojo had probably moved onto a new subject and didn't really care about their lives when they escaped, which is why the notice that went out said they were armed and highly dangerous. They were probably completely disposable to him at that point." He concluded, looking up at everyone else to see if they agreed with his hypothesis.

"Wow, Red. You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Barret asked.

"I simply understand the nature of Hojo and I can pick up on the way Cloud feels about this situation more than you can," he stated "And from what went on while I was a captive as well, I can hypothesize that these were Hojo's plans. But of course, I could be completely wrong." He added.

"Sounds pretty dead-on to me." Reeve said. "I knew Hojo personally, and that sounds like something he would do." He noted, gravely. "But I need to get out of here, I will be back in the morning with all the information on their escape as I can." He added.

"You know," Tifa added unexpectedly, "Cloud took that _a lot_ better than I thought he would. It seemed like this subject always bothered him so much. I didn't think he would ever agree to it."

"Well," Vinced said darkly, "I don't think he would have if Reeve hadn't used Zack as leverage."

"What?!" Reeve stated, exasperated. "I didn't…"

"Like hell, you didn't!" Cid added.

"As you can imagine, Cloud probably feels forever in the debt of Zachary Fair for saving his life. After using the argument that showing these videos would restore Zacks honor, how could he say no?" Vincent argued.

"And I don't think that he took it as well as we all thought," Red XIII added, suddenly grabbing everyones attention. "I am much more keen to emotions coming from human beings, and Cloud was emitting unbelievable amounts of tension. He was trying very hard to hold himself back. And obviously, he did a pretty good job to have fooled you all," he added in a slightly irritated tone.

"Cloud can handle this," Tifa suddenly said, her anger rising. "You don't give him enough credit. He's stronger than any of us. And its obvious that he really cared about Zack, so even if Reeve wouldn't have convinced him that way, he still would have done it if it meant restoring his honor!" she practically yelled, surprising everyone.

"Yeah… I suppose your right, Tifa. You know Cloud pretty spot on. I think he woulda' done whatever it took. As long as the truth gets out there," Barret stated.

"Right, then. I'll be back tomorrow." Reeve suddenly said, grabbing the disk and bolting for the door, trying to hide the guilty expression on his face. He certainly had not meant to use Clouds former friend as leverage, but he had to do whatever it took, right?

"Yeah, see ya, _ya lyin' stinkin' Shinra lovin' asshole_…" Barret said, his voice getting quieter towards the end of the sentence so Reeve wouldn't hear him as he walked out the door.

"Well, we will just have to see what tomorrow brings, right? Lets all get some sleep. There are extra rooms downstairs." Tifa said authoritively , motioning towards the door. She knew tomorrow would be a long day, and she did not want to be tired for it.

Once in his room, Cloud kicked off his boots and fell down into the bed, face first. He laid there for a while until he needed to breathe, and then rolled over onto his back.

_What a crazy day_. Who ever thought that after seven years, this would come back, bubbling to the surface? He had been determined that nobody would ever know what happened to him there. Everyone else that had been there was now dead. He had looked so weak. Everyone had probably seen him cry in that video, for goodness sakes! He didn't cry about anything. Ever. Very few times in the lab had he let the tears fall. And the other times, Zack had been there.

_Zack_. The thought of him sent shivers down his spine. He knew he should think about Zack more often, and the sacrifice that he had made for him, but the thought of him was so incredibly painful, after a while he did all he could to block his face out of his mind.

But now the memories were flowing back, and Cloud couldn't help but get emotional about it.

Memories of the lab flashed before his eyes; Zack, holding him close and keeping him warm whenever he laid shivering on that concrete floor. Zack, cradling him in his arms, Clouds cheek resting against his familiar, warm chest, listening to a quiet heartbeat. Zack, tending to Clouds wounds when the guards brought him back from whatever torture session had been that day. Zack, being Clouds advocate when he needed extra attention, saving his life on several occasions. Zack, always putting Cloud first, himself second. Zack, dragging his flaccid, lifeless form up that long set of spiraling stairs when he could have easily escaped himself. Zack, assuring him the whole way that they would make it. Zack, tending to his comatose friend when it would have just been easier to leave him behind. Zack, who was always the one standing between Cloud and death. But in the end, death finally caught up to him. Zack had made the choice to stand in that position. And when death finally came to claim Cloud, Zack stood in its way once more. But that time he paid dearly for it.

Sometimes, Cloud got angry at Zack for standing in the way of his death. It had been his time. Besides, death is much easier than life. Cloud would have been spared a lot of pain and suffering if he had just been shot there on that hill overlooking Midgar.

But once again, Zack had stood between the bullets and Cloud, acting as his shield. Zack had wanted him to live.

He wanted Cloud to be his living legacy.

_Cloud_? Be _Zacks_ living legacy?

Cloud thought he hardly fit the bill. There were so many qualities that Zack had that he lacked.

But Zack had faith in him, and that was good enough reason for him to keep fighting.

He got up and turned off the light, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand as he went. Tomorrow would be a new day, and Zack would finally get the credit he rightfully deserved.


	4. Chapter 4

As Reeve got into his car and drove home, he tried not to feel guilty about what he had just done. He was convinced, that no matter what he said, Cloud would have agreed to it if it meant it would help Zack in the end. Reeve didn't know why yet, but he had a very strong feeling that Cloud would be willing to do anything for Zack.

Out of everyone in the group, Reeve knew Cloud the least. Cloud never opened up to anyone, and he was surprised that he had shared even as much as he did with everyone. As for himself, he wasn't the last one to join them on their journey, but not being with them in person, in real life most of the time, it made it difficult to get close to others. Despite of this, he felt he was generally a good judge of character, and he knew that Cloud wasn't a bad guy, but he had a terrible past, and was having a hard time dealing with it.

He got out of his car when he arrived home, and prepared himself for a long night. He had promised Cloud he would find anything on how Zack had got them out of there. Reeve was morbidly curious himself, judging by the condition it looked like they were in, it must have been fairly difficult.

He got out the disk and inserted it into his computer, and fast forwarded to the part they had left off at the bar.

As he watched, he quickly became utterly horrified at the things that Hojo had done to Cloud and Zack. He saw many clips of torture sessions much like the one he had seen at the bar that involved Cloud, but it was almost always done to both of the young men, and almost always Zack fully recovered while Cloud did not.

Reeve did not want to think of Cloud as weak, seeing him in the condition he was in here. The situation was totally out of his control, and any normal human probably would not have survived.

But he completely agreed with Cloud on the fact that Zack deserved his honor. Reeve watched as Zack took many shots of Mako and sessions of torture, and up to the very last day he fought back. Reeve was sure he heard Zack call the lab assistants every dirty word in existence, but he never quit. Each time they came to get him, he fought. Each time they tried to stick a needle in him, he pulled away. Reeve even saw him punch one of the guards right in the nose. Zack was a fighter.

Cloud, on the other hand, could have been dead for all Reeve knew. He did nothing when the guards came to get him. They literally had to drag him to the lab. He sat there while getting the shots, and never even flinched. He just stared blankly forward, as if he wasn't even there. They would ask him questions and never get a response. The only time he reacted is when they caused him great pain, which they did often to make sure he still was with them.

It hurt Reeve to watch, but he understood now. He saw countless clips of Zack and Cloud in their cell, Zack trying to talk to Cloud. Towards the beginning, Cloud was energetic and would talk to Zack. As the months passed on, Cloud began to give up. Cloud would occasionally respond, but no matter how cold Cloud was to Zack, he always comforted him. When Cloud was brought back to the cell unconscious, Zack would take his shirt off and soak it in cold water and wipe Clouds face until he awoke. He tended to all of Clouds wounds, while Cloud would occasionally help Zack.

It was obvious that they needed each other, but Cloud was so far gone that not even Zack could bring him back. He was weak and ill almost all the time. Anyone would have wanted to give up at that point.

But not Zack. Zack kept fighting up until the very end. He fought for Cloud as much as he fought for himself. Maybe even more.

Reeve gathered all the files of information he needed to show everyone, and went to bed, but he could not sleep. Horrors of what he had just seen swirled in his head. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had just seen. Cloud deserved to be commended. Nobody had any idea what they were about to see, and he wasn't sure he was prepared to be the one to show it.

Everyone was gathered around like they had been the night before when Reeve arrived. He had great black circles under his bloodshot eyes, looking like he didn't sleep at all. He shuffled through the door and walked directly over to Cloud, who also looked like he hadn't slept much.

"Cloud, I've got as much as I could find regarding you and Zack's escape. Its not going to be pretty." he said, hesitantly, "are you sure you want to do this?"

Cloud simply nodded, avoiding eye contact with reeve. He cleared his throat but said nothing.

Reeve clapped him on the shoulder and looked him meaningfully in the eyes, hopefully conveying things he could never say out loud. Cloud seemed to understand as he flashed his brilliant blue eyes upward and gave Reeve another silent nod.

Tifa escorted Denzel into the room. Cloud looked at him, and then looked at Tifa.

"I… I thought he should know. I think he's old enough." Tifa said, warily. "Marlene is at the babysitters." She added.

Cloud looked into Denzels eyes. So young, yet he has been through so much. Cloud felt that everyone close to him deserved to know why he was the way he was, and who Zack was. "Alright." He stated simply, and turned around. Everyone had taken their seat, and the door to the bar locked.

Nobody else said a word as Reeve inserted the video. They knew what was coming this time.

"I found minimal footage of the actual escape, but I did find some on how you were put into a coma, Cloud. I remember you said you didn't remember much…" he said awkwardly as he took his seat.

The video started. The screen showed the scenery of the hallway that contained the door Cloud and Zack were locked behind. Whoever the camera was possessed by opened the door and walked over to Cloud. He was laying on the concrete floor, Zack sitting next to him. He opened his eyes and looked up at whoever was staring down at him.

"Hojo is doing an experiment on blondie, here," he said loudly, "but wants you to come as well." He addressed Zack. He did not say it unkindly, but he said it with authority, whoever it was. "So come on, we don't have all day. You know how he gets" He said.

Cloud made no effort to stand. Whether he wasn't able or just didn't want to, he did not even move a muscle. Zack took a hold of one of his arms and hoisted him to a standing position. Cloud grunted and winced in pain. He attempted to steady himself but his legs were unwilling to move, it seemed.

"Its okay buddy, I got ya," Zack said and dragged Cloud along the passageway. Cloud said nothing.

Once they reached the door to the lab, all hell broke loose. Cloud was tugged away from Zacks grip and carried away, and guards took Zack forcefully.

Cloud, back in the bar, remembered that this was normally how things went when the arrived, because they had a problem separating the two. And since on this particular day, the experiments were only being done on Cloud, Zack probably had his guard way up.

Cloud was taken over to the normal "operating table", where he was told to lay on his side with his knees tucked up to his chin.

Another camera had been set up on a tripod, which showed the front of the procedure, and the scenes were switched back and forth between that and the camera of whoever possessed it now.

Zack had been strapped to a metal chair bolted to the floor in the back of the lab. Whatever was going on, Hojo wanted him to watch.

Hojo walked up to the camera on the tripod and began to speak. "Todays experimentation will involve specimen C and the cells of the mighty JENOVA."

"NO!" Zack exclaimed in the background, "YOU CAN'T GIVE HIM THOSE FREAK CELLS, YOU'LL KILL HIM!" he fought with the chair to get free, but to no avail.

"Shut him up, will you", Hojo said to one of the assistants, who put a strip of duct tape over Zacks mouth. He continued to try to shout and get out of the chair, but he was strapped down tight.

"Anyways," Hojo continued, "the cells did not work on the specimen Z, so we are going to try them in specimen C using a slightly different method. Since the cells are meant to affect the brain of the subject most, they will be administered directly into the central nervous system through an epidural catheter. This has never been tried, so we will see how things go." He finished speaking and walked away from the camera to begin the procedure.

The camera showed a clear shot of Clouds face, which was blank as it usually was. He stared blindly forward not knowing what was coming.

One of the assistants came up and injected something into the port on the inside of Clouds elbow.

Hojo continued to speak to the camera from where he was standing. "The specimen has been given a muscle relaxant with no analgesic affects or additional analgesic medications", he said.

One of the assistanst spoke up, "In other words, sir?" looking down at his clipboard that he was taking notes on.

"In other words, he will be unable to move but will be able to feel everything that is going on. The effects of JENOVA may be suppressed by anything that depresses the nervous system or any kind of nervous impulse, so we don't want to risk that, do we?" he said with a grin.

Cloud had known that was all bullshit. Hojo wanted Cloud to feel that needle being inserted into his spine and not be able to do anything about it. He knew that Hojo believed the JENOVA cells would fail in him as well. But this was his last final bit of torture before he finally gave up on him.

"Let us begin", Hojo stated authoritively .

The video stayed on the camera that had a view of Clouds face. Although Cloud could not move, the pain of the procedure was evident in his eyes. The muscles of his face flinched involuntarily to the pain several times. Zack continued to struggle in the background.

Back at the bar, Cloud remembered knowing that this was it. He knew he was going to die right there on that table, and although he had wished it to be painless, he had been grateful. This would all be over soon. He had felt sorrow for Zack, that they weren't killing him too. That he would be stuck there alone. But he didn't care. He had suffered too much to care about anything anymore. He wanted it to be over.

"Administering JENOVA cells into spinal cord now", Hojo said loudly so the camera could pick it up. The syringe was visible in his hand, and he lowered it to Clouds back. Evidently he had pushed the cells in, because almost instantly Clouds body began to tremble.

"Um, Sir?" one of the assistants said nervously.

"Give him a minute, he'll be fine." Hojo yelled. Everybody stood back and watched as Clouds body shook the entire table, ripping the catheter out of his spine and spilling blood and spinal fluid onto the table.

One of the assistants went to clean it up. "Leave it!" Hojo shouted. He was watching Cloud intently, with a sort of lust in his eyes. Almost as soon as it had begun, Cloud was still.

Clouds eyes always glowed because of the amount of mako in his body. The camera actually caught the light leaving Clouds eyes, almost like a light switching off.

One of the assitants ran up to Cloud and placed two fingers to the crook of his neck. Obviously not satisfied, he lowered his head to Clouds chest and placed his ear against it. "No pulse," he stated, looking directly at Hojo.

"Damn it!," Hojo yelled, making his way out of the room. "That was ten thousand gil worth of JENOVA cells! I guess we better bring him back, to see if it still has any effect." He continued as he left the room.

One of the assistants had began CPR. Clouds head lolled to the side with each chest compression, his dead eyes half lidded, seeing nothing.

Zack, in the background, was frantic. He was trying desperately to escape, to go to Clouds side, to yell out to him. Nothing would work.

Everyone back at the bar was completely silent. Tifa and Denzel let silent tears fall. Vincent, Barret, Cid, and Reeve all stared at the screen in mystified horror. This was real, this had happened. Cloud had survived, he was sitting not ten feet from them. But how?

One of the assistants had retrieved an AED device to shock Clouds heart back into action, but as he was preparing it Hojo reentered the room.

"That won't work on him, you idiot", he said, annoyed. He carried with him a large syringe filled with green liquid.

"Move", he said as he shoved the assistant away that was still doing chest compressions. He lifted the needle high into the air as if doing it simply for dramatic effect, and then lowered it quickly with great force directly into Clouds chest. Everybody, in the lab and at the bar included, winced as he did so. He injected the mako directly into Cloud's heart.

"What was your rationale for doing that, sir?" the brave assitant with the clipboard asked tentatively.

Hojo withdrew the needle and let the puncture site bleed. He turned to the assitant and explained quickly.

"Mako becomes whatever chemical the body needs it to be in an emergency situation. In this case, I had no epinephrine on hand, so this had to make due. That is why SOLDIER's are so enhanced by mako. They have almost unlimited stamina and energy, because the body cannot metabolize mako, and so its always available to be whatever the body needs it for." He explained.

In the meantime during Hojo's little 'lesson' on mako, Cloud continued to lay on the table unmoving. The assistants that were not paying attention to Hojo continued to tend to him. CPR was contined by the same one doing it before. He checked Clouds pulse every thirty seconds, but came up empty each time.

"CLOUD!" Zack yelled, apparently finally successful in getting the tape off his mouth. One of the assistants quickly ran to re-attach it.

"You son of a bitch, you killed him! I'll kill you, I swear I'll---" he was abruptly cut off as the tape was fastened to his face once more. He continued to struggle, but focus returned to Cloud.

After several rounds of CPR, Cloud finally took a breath on his own. The mako glow returned to his eyes. One of the assistants quickly placed his fingers upon Clouds neck again, and sighed with relief.

"We've got a pulse." He said to Hojo.

"Good, good. Now intubate him and put him in one of the mako chambers. He'll be brain damaged by now, no good for any more experimentation. We'll use him for an autopsy someday or something." He said nonchalantly. The assistants looked at him in disbelief.

"We're not going to try to save him, sir?" one asked skeptically.

"Weren't you listening? No, I don't have any want or need for him anymore. Keep him in a medically induced coma and get him into that mako chamber STAT." he said and swiftly left the room.

The assistants looked at each other but did not say anything. One of them took the task of putting the breathing tube down Clouds throat, another preparing a special line for parenteral nutrition, and another attaching all kinds of monitors to his body for when he was to be put into the mako tube.

They had the guards assist them put him into the tank. He floated lifelessly, his eyes closed and unmoving. He was as good as dead now, if he wasn't before. The monitors next to the tank monitored his vital signs, the steady beeping of the heart monitor a reminder that he was still somewhat alive. One of the assistants walked over to the camera and shut it off.

Everyone back at the bar was in horror. They had just seen everything that had happened, heard Hojo say that Cloud would be brain damaged, yet there he sat before them, perfectly fine. How on earth did he get out of that?

"Oh my God…" Tifa said, half sobbing, horrified with tears streaming from her eyes, unable to look at Cloud.

The video continued. Reeve knew now that it was almost over, the rest only being small clips that he miraculously found.

The first one was captured by a security camera, showing Zack escaping his cell and running straight for the lab, over to Clouds tank.

The camera did not capture audio, but it clearly showed Zacks lips forming Cloud's name, screaming and pounding on the tank. Tears were streaming down Zack's face as Cloud floated lifelessly in the tube, not hearing Zacks pleas. He continued to scream and pound on the tank until security guards came and dragged him out.

The next clip showed Zack dragging Cloud up the familiar set of spiral stairs leading out of the mansion. They were both soaked with mako, so apparently Zack had been put in a tube of mako as well. The clip turned black.

The next one was a very short one, which seemed to be a security camera outside of a building, because all it showed was a motorcycle speeding by. The clip had been edited to slow it down, and it showed Zack driving with Cloud behind him, Zack holding his arms tightly around him.

The next clip seemed to be taken by helicopter, or a vehicle that flew high above the deserts surrounding Midgar. The camera was zoomed in on a lone truck crossing the flat land, the unmistakable jet black hair of Zack and Spiky blonde hair of Cloud visible in the lens. "Targets sighted," was heard in the background before the screen went black.

The very last clip Reeve knew would be the hardest for Cloud to watch. The tiny camera was clipped to the jacket of someone they all knew, Tseng, the Turk. He was standing on a Cliffside overlooking Midgar. He was also looking directly down on the body of Zack. He was riddled with bullets, laying in a pool of crimson that was flowing down the hill due to the steady rainfall. It was raining hard, so their words were difficult to pick up. "Zachary Fair, SOLDIER first class. I worked with him personally. What a pity." He said, impassively. He knelt down and pushed the hair out of Zacks eyes. He stayed kneeled for a few seconds longer and then rose. He stood and faced the opposite direction, which showed a large pile of rocks, Cloud's still form leaning up against it. He walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. He placed two fingers to the inside of Clouds wrist. Apparently he was alive, but looked very ill. Tseng stood up and walked back to the helicopter. Nobody understood why he didn't take Cloud with him. The man with Tseng, someone that none of them recognized, said rudely "I saw you lookin' at that one over there" he had a heavy accent. "That ones' good as dead, I figure. He looks like he's only got minutes left."

"It is beyond the realm of my duty to assist a fugitive." Tseng stated coldly. "By all standards, I should kill him myself, but as you say, he doesn't look like he has long. He won't be going anywhere. Let him die peacefully." He concluded in his monotone voice. He stepped onto the helicopter and promptly shut the camera clipped to his jacket off. The screen went blank.


End file.
